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Summary

This document describes results from the 2023 global OHI assessment. This is mostly an internal document to explore and check results. It also creates the figures used on the website and in other documents.

Setup

Primary dataset

These data are the OHI scores for the eez regions of 220 countries and territories from 2012 to 2023.

Region 0 is the global average scores, which are calculated using an area-weighted average of the region scores (status, likely future state, and score).

OHI scores

Global summary

This section describes global patterns in index and goal scores. The overall global score was 73.46.

Alternative color scale

Average global performance of the 10 goals.

Flower plots for each region can be downloaded from here

Country summary

Country index scores for 2023 Maps describing goal and index scores can be downloaded from here.

Distribution of country index scores. The median index score among countries was 72.27.

The regions with index scores of 80 or greater are:

region_name Index
Macquarie Island 91.18
Howland Island and Baker Island 89.88
Jarvis Island 89.24
Ile Europa 88.95
Seychelles 86.55
United Arab Emirates 84.73
Mayotte 83.86
Portugal 83.61
Qatar 83.45
Palmyra Atoll 83.28
Oman 83.16
Northern Saint-Martin 82.63
Russia 82.59
New Zealand 82.32
Venezuela 81.66
Greenland 81.66
Madeira 81.43
Prince Edward Islands 81.01
Heard and McDonald Islands 80.73
Iraq 80.24
Ecuador 80.14
Brazil 80.03

The regions with index scores of 60 or less are:

region_name Index
Tristan da Cunha 59.62
Brunei 59.26
Democratic Republic of the Congo 59.17
Lebanon 58.94
Sri Lanka 58.85
Philippines 58.32
Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 58.00
Falkland Islands 57.59
Syria 56.18
Republique du Congo 55.91
Ivory Coast 54.91
Eritrea 54.81

Country scores across scenario year

Carpet plot figure (download as high resolution png) providing an overview of the scores from the 2023 assessment. Each row represents a region, the main groupings represent goals, and within each goal there are 12 years of data. Black regions indicate no data.

Don’t try too hard to interpret the results for specific countries/goals/years!!

This plot is good for providing a quick overview of:

  • What is the range of scores?
  • Which goals tend to have high scores across most regions (species, habitat)
  • Which goals have a lot of variation across regions (tourism & recreation, lasting special places)
  • Which goals are volatile across years (natural products, tourism & recreation)

2023 Data

This interactive table describes the index and goal scores for the regions in 2023 (or, download csv version):

All years data

This interactive table describes the index and goal scores for the regions in all years. This is helpful in investigating a single country by searching the region name.

Change from 2012 to 2023

This interactive table describes the gross change in index and goal scores for the regions between 2012 and 2023. This is helpful in investigating a single country by searching the region name and seeing how much each goal value has changed overall from the first year to the last.

A closer look at goal scores

This section takes a closer look at the goal/subgoal scores for the 2023 scenario.

Artisanal opportunities

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Qatar 100.00
Antigua and Barbuda 100.00
Costa Rica 100.00
Marshall Islands 100.00
Nauru 100.00
Solomon Islands 100.00
Cayman Islands 100.00
Tokelau 99.98
Bangladesh 99.90
Wallis and Futuna 99.21

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Norfolk Island 44.92
Democratic Republic of the Congo 43.11
Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) 42.04
Dominica 37.09
South Africa 35.81
Palau 35.11
American Samoa 30.87
Vanuatu 28.86
Ukraine 28.37
Georgia 25.16

Species condition (subgoal)

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Finland 90.55
Estonia 90.11
Poland 90.04
Lithuania 89.80
Latvia 89.66
Sweden 88.37
Jordan 87.73
Djibouti 87.49
Northern Saint-Martin 86.84
Sint Eustatius 86.52

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Greece 63.71
Italy 63.14
Israel 63.06
Syria 62.44
Algeria 61.36
Lebanon 60.41
Malta 60.38
Libya 57.77
Cyprus 57.23
Monaco 55.45

Biodiversity

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Sint Eustatius 93.26
Saba 92.77
Sint Maarten 92.56
Oecussi Ambeno 91.87
Heard and McDonald Islands 91.57
Djibouti 90.96
Kerguelen Islands 90.85
Northern Saint-Martin 90.52
Bouvet Island 89.86
Jordan 88.75

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Montenegro 60.76
Lebanon 60.06
Monaco 59.76
Greece 59.44
Republique du Congo 58.82
Ivory Coast 58.32
Faeroe Islands 58.16
Falkland Islands 56.24
Croatia 55.67
Syria 50.32

Habitat (subgoal)

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Heard and McDonald Islands 100
Clipperton Island 100
Saba 100
Kerguelen Islands 100
Tuvalu 100
Sint Eustatius 100
Sao Tome and Principe 100
French Polynesia 100
Ascension 100
Wallis and Futuna 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Saint Pierre and Miquelon 50.25
Ukraine 50.05
Bulgaria 45.98
Republique du Congo 45.08
Ivory Coast 43.01
Poland 42.88
Croatia 40.56
Faeroe Islands 40.08
Syria 38.20
Falkland Islands 31.46

Coastal protection

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Macquarie Island 100
Clipperton Island 100
Saba 100
Azores 100
Bangladesh 100
Tuvalu 100
Sint Eustatius 100
Oecussi Ambeno 100
French Polynesia 100
Wallis and Futuna 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Somalia 55.78
Argentina 55.47
British Virgin Islands 54.54
Chile 51.66
Bermuda 51.18
Democratic Republic of the Congo 36.41
Guyana 32.24
Pakistan 23.09
Ivory Coast 18.03
Republique du Congo 10.02

Carbon storage

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Ile Europa 100
Mayotte 100
Northern Saint-Martin 100
Saba 100
Bangladesh 100
Tuvalu 100
Sint Eustatius 100
French Polynesia 100
French Guiana 100
Sint Maarten 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Montenegro 55.68
Curacao 50.65
Democratic Republic of the Congo 44.61
Republique du Congo 37.13
Latvia 36.60
Morocco 33.23
Poland 30.81
Lithuania 23.45
Lebanon 5.05
Syria 3.36

Clean water

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Heard and McDonald Islands 99.25
Bouvet Island 99.25
Jarvis Island 99.23
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 98.67
Macquarie Island 97.89
Kerguelen Islands 97.51
Howland Island and Baker Island 96.77
Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) 95.94
Palmyra Atoll 93.10
Seychelles 89.92

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
India 34.56
Ghana 33.34
Nigeria 31.15
Bangladesh 28.75
Cameroon 28.17
Marshall Islands 23.71
Togo 19.42
Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) 18.88
Nauru 18.65
Benin 15.81

Economies

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Mayotte 100
Portugal 100
Oman 100
New Zealand 100
Brazil 100
Panama 100
Uruguay 100
Aruba 100
Australia 100
Azores 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Niue 31.73
Guadeloupe and Martinique 30.39
French Guiana 29.78
Guinea Bissau 25.86
Saint Helena 23.14
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 20.76
Equatorial Guinea 18.57
Falkland Islands 16.17
Eritrea 6.68
East Timor 0.05

Livelihoods & economies

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Mayotte 100
Oman 100
New Zealand 100
Panama 100
Uruguay 100
Aruba 100
Bangladesh 100
Tuvalu 100
Sao Tome and Principe 100
Tanzania 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Cook Islands 44.46
French Guiana 44.01
Philippines 43.94
Saint Helena 40.59
Samoa 39.88
Falkland Islands 36.68
East Timor 27.48
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 25.46
Equatorial Guinea 12.81
Eritrea 3.42

Livelihoods

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Seychelles 100
United Arab Emirates 100
Mayotte 100
Oman 100
New Zealand 100
Greenland 100
Iraq 100
Ecuador 100
Panama 100
Chile 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Gabon 37.93
Anguilla 35.69
Libya 35.21
Cook Islands 33.98
Benin 33.98
Saint Kitts and Nevis 33.69
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 30.16
Equatorial Guinea 7.05
Samoa 3.34
Eritrea 0.16

Fisheries (subgoal)

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Nauru 97.09
Ile Europa 94.98
Juan de Nova Island 94.98
Bassas da India 94.98
Macquarie Island 92.90
Prince Edward Islands 91.66
Palmyra Atoll 90.97
Ile Tromelin 90.95
Turks and Caicos Islands 90.10
Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) 88.62

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Guinea 13.86
Western Sahara 13.13
Albania 12.32
Bulgaria 10.68
Johnston Atoll 10.26
Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 9.95
Pitcairn 9.48
Jan Mayen 9.14
Norfolk Island 8.29
Bouvet Island 7.86

Food provision

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Nauru 97.09
Ile Europa 94.98
Juan de Nova Island 94.98
Bassas da India 94.98
Macquarie Island 92.90
Prince Edward Islands 91.66
Palmyra Atoll 90.97
Ile Tromelin 90.95
Turks and Caicos Islands 90.10
Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) 88.61

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Mauritania 14.73
Glorioso Islands 14.28
Guinea 13.86
Western Sahara 13.13
Johnston Atoll 10.26
Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 9.95
Pitcairn 9.48
Jan Mayen 9.14
Norfolk Island 8.29
Bouvet Island 7.86

Mariculture (subgoal)

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Finland 88.40
Bosnia and Herzegovina 88.33
Denmark 87.17
Netherlands 87.02
Germany 87.01
Jersey 87.01
Bulgaria 87.01
Guernsey 87.01
South Korea 86.60
Slovenia 84.37

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Sudan 0
Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) 0
Fiji 0
Tristan da Cunha 0
Democratic Republic of the Congo 0
Falkland Islands 0
Syria 0
Republique du Congo 0
Ivory Coast 0
Eritrea 0

Iconic species (subgoal)

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Romania 100.00
Ukraine 100.00
Bulgaria 100.00
Finland 93.33
Latvia 92.86
Lithuania 92.86
Poland 92.86
Estonia 92.31
Denmark 87.27
Sweden 87.22

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Bassas da India 50.85
Glorioso Islands 50.85
Ile Tromelin 50.85
Crozet Islands 50.85
Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 50.85
Thailand 50.68
Iran 50.46
Cambodia 49.54
Turkey 47.16
Georgia 39.70

Sense of place

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Romania 100.00
Ukraine 100.00
Bulgaria 100.00
Latvia 96.43
Lithuania 96.43
Poland 96.43
Estonia 96.15
Denmark 93.64
Germany 93.45
Bouvet Island 92.14

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Niue 27.06
Syria 26.85
Bahrain 26.82
Turkey 26.76
Yemen 25.83
Sudan 25.74
Tokelau 25.72
Juan de Nova Island 25.43
Bassas da India 25.43
Ile Tromelin 25.43

Lasting special places (subgoal)

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Macquarie Island 100
Howland Island and Baker Island 100
Jarvis Island 100
Ile Europa 100
Seychelles 100
Mayotte 100
Portugal 100
Palmyra Atoll 100
Northern Saint-Martin 100
Madeira 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Togo 0
Libya 0
Line Islands (Kiribati) 0
Saint Helena 0
Niue 0
Sudan 0
Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) 0
Tristan da Cunha 0
Syria 0
Eritrea 0

Natural products

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Northern Saint-Martin 100.00
Greenland 100.00
Panama 100.00
Bahamas 100.00
Jan Mayen 100.00
Faeroe Islands 99.97
Lithuania 99.93
Norway 99.88
Sweden 99.88
Estonia 99.87

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Suriname 48.01
Cape Verde 47.92
Falkland Islands 43.85
Madagascar 41.40
Belgium 40.88
Dominican Republic 38.72
Palau 38.33
Solomon Islands 35.88
New Caledonia 30.80
Fiji 18.59

Tourism & recreation

Scores

Top 10 performers

region_name score
Seychelles 100
Russia 100
New Zealand 100
Chile 100
Uruguay 100
Australia 100
Tuvalu 100
French Polynesia 100
Germany 100
Tanzania 100

Bottom 10 performers

region_name score
Thailand 6.74
Philippines 5.88
New Caledonia 5.68
Kuwait 4.92
American Samoa 4.46
Slovenia 4.44
Solomon Islands 3.55
Brunei 2.45
Cayman Islands 1.69
Tonga 1.08

Other analyses

Comparing trend and average index scores

To obtain a more complete picture of which regions are doing well and which are doing poorly we compared the average index scores (averaged over 2012 to 2023) and the trends for each region.

Of most concern are regions that have poor scores and declining trends.

The following is an interactive plot (region names are visible when hovering over the points) showing the relationship between average index scores and trend. The horizontal line represents the 0 trend and the vertical line is the average of the average index scores.

Comparing assessment years

The following is a comparison of the global status scores generated for the 2023 scenario by this year’s assessment vs. last year’s assessment.

If the models and source data remain the same, these scores should be exactly the same. Differences indicate changes in methods or source data.

These changes do not reflect changes in actual system health!

long_goal future pressures resilience score status trend
Artisanal opportunities -0.6308000 0.0226818 -0.0326818 -0.6384500 -0.6473500 0.0001500
Biodiversity 0.0263182 NaN NaN 0.0134545 0.0000000 0.0006818
Carbon storage 0.0614054 -0.0957838 -0.0261622 0.0309189 0.0000000 0.0014054
Clean water 0.3350909 -0.3124545 -0.0441818 0.2905909 0.2455000 0.0013182
Coastal protection 0.0245192 -0.2788942 -0.0268269 0.0122115 0.0000000 0.0005288
Economies -0.0004902 0.0107583 -0.0739545 -0.0003922 0.0000000 0.0000000
Fisheries (subgoal) -1.0480455 0.0675909 0.0020000 -0.9232273 -0.7986364 -0.0063182
Food provision -1.1200000 NaN NaN -0.9440909 -0.7683182 -0.0049091
Habitat (subgoal) 0.0492727 -0.1110000 -0.0359545 0.0245909 0.0000000 0.0012727
Iconic species (subgoal) 2.2065000 -0.0065000 -0.0175455 2.2499545 2.2944091 -0.0020909
Index 3.3931364 NA NA 3.0185455 NA NA
Lasting special places (subgoal) 0.6399091 0.0230000 -0.0440000 0.3681818 0.0959545 0.0314545
Livelihoods -0.0001471 0.0168246 -0.0447273 -0.0001961 0.0000000 0.0000000
Livelihoods & economies -0.0002941 NaN NaN -0.0002941 0.0000000 0.0000000
Mariculture (subgoal) 0.6321762 0.0440909 -0.0441818 0.6956995 0.7592746 0.0225907
Natural products 3.2386096 -0.0634043 0.0406383 2.5985027 1.9577005 0.0408021
Sense of place 1.4233182 NaN NaN 1.3092273 1.1948636 0.0146818
Species condition (subgoal) 0.0033636 0.0087273 0.0020000 0.0016364 0.0000000 0.0000000
Tourism & recreation 33.7017178 -0.1695909 -0.0441818 30.1320859 26.5618405 0.2503067

Country data

The following interactive plot provides an overview of how the 2023 scenario scores changed between the 2022 and 2023 assessments for all goals and dimensions.